


Operation Mistletoe

by seraphina_snape



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, M/M, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 19:38:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1097823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphina_snape/pseuds/seraphina_snape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles has a plan. It involves the pack, some mistletoe and Derek not messing things up inadvertently. Stiles can control the first (for the most part) and the second, but the third's still up in the air.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Operation Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, [theron09](http://archiveofourown.org/users/theron09), for the quick, last-minute beta job! You're a star! ♥ ♥ 
> 
> I was going to write Christmas porn, but then Mizzy started talking about mistletoe... somehow, I ended up writing Christmas fluff instead. Oops. (New Year's porn is still in the cards though!)
> 
> Edit: Now with a lovely cover by **phinjay**. Thank you! ♥

[ ](http://i.imgur.com/cSffaPM.jpg)

(click to see the full-size version)

Stiles stood back and gave his handiwork a determined nod. Today was the day. 

"Today is the day, Scott," he said. "I can feel it in my bones." 

"Don't you mean your boner?" Isaac muttered from across the room. 

Stiles whirled around and glared at him, then directed his glare at Scott when he dared to snort in amusement. Traitor.

"Sorry," Scott said, sounding a little choked off. "It looks, um, good." 

Stiles turned a skeptical eye on the doorway.

The sprig of mistletoe was a little lopsided. He'd cut it too close to the leaves, leaving no convenient places to attach the string. He'd had to settle for looping it around the leafy end a few times, leaving it dangling from the doorway with no way to tell if it was upside down or not. The location wasn't ideal either. The loft only had two separate rooms, the bedroom upstairs and the bathroom. Since Stiles couldn't see anyone just happening to meet at the top of the winding staircase in the middle of a pack Christmas party, he'd been forced to use the bathroom doorway for the mistletoe. 

Attaching the string to the doorway hadn't been easy, either. Everything was metal and stone in Derek's loft. Drilling an actual hole into the wall hadn't been part of Stiles' plan, so duct tape it was. 

The crowning glory, though, the one thing that firmly put his mistletoe arrangement into the 'garish and cheesy' section of all Christmas decorations was the neon pink bow. One day until Christmas and the store was out of red bows. Unbelievable. Stiles was almost offended that everyone seemed to think he'd picked the pink bow on purpose, but he could let it slide.

"It's certainly something," Allison said. 

She smiled like she was trying to convey her approval. It came out as partly amused, partly horrified, but Stiles didn't mind. The mistletoe might look like crap but at least his friends liked him enough to lie about it. 

Stiles put one arm each around Scott and Allison's shoulders and smiled. If this didn't get him Derek's undying love, nothing would.

The door opened and Stiles quickly turned, heart pounding. But it was only Lydia. Danny trailed behind her, laden down with three shopping bags overstuffed with party snacks.

"Good, you're here," Stiles said. "Did you bring the movie?" 

"I did," Lydia said, pulling a video store DVD case out of her handbag. "Although I don't see why we have to watch _Gremlins_. It's not even a real Christmas movie."

"Yes, it is," Stiles said, grabbing the DVD before Lydia got any bright ideas. 

"We're watching _Gremlins_?" Isaac smirked at Stiles. "Wow. You really want to impress him." 

"Shut up." 

Lydia looked between them and then made an 'explain yourselves' noise.

" _Gremlins_ is Derek's favorite Christmas movie," Isaac said, grinning. "Stiles is going all out. Classy decorations, favorite movie, favorite snack--" he said, holding up a pack of mini pretzels.

"Guys," Allison said, a hint of warning in her voice. She looked at Stiles. "Don't listen to them; they're just as excited as you are. We all want to see you and Derek happy." 

"That's because everyone can see we'd be perfect for each other," Stiles said. "Everyone but Derek, apparently." 

Danny rolled his eyes. "Everyone can see Derek is into you," he said. "Everyone but you, apparently."

Stiles made a face at him and then moved over to the table to help him unpack the snacks. He wasn't worried. Scott had already confirmed that Derek at least found him physically attractive. He'd put up a token protest when Stiles asked him to - literally - sniff out if Derek had any sort of reaction to Stiles eating a candy cane, but he'd eventually if reluctantly confirmed that Derek's nether regions seemed to like Stiles licking and sucking on a vaguely phallic object. 

That and the fact that he was too damn impatient to wait two more years for Derek to get his act together was what had made him call Operation Mistletoe into action. Stiles had a plan. It involved the pack, some mistletoe and Derek not fucking things up inadvertently. Stiles could control the first (for the most part) and the second, but the third was still up in the air. Maybe he'd be lucky and Derek would loiter in the bathroom doorway. Maybe Stiles would end up loitering in the bathroom doorway like a loser while everyone else watched the movie. 

Stiles had a brief moment of panic as it occurred to him that Derek could just have a weird fixation on candy canes. But no. That was too absurd to even consider. 

At least Stiles performed well under pressure. He'd need that talent, going by the way his stress levels had rocketed.

"Okay, gang, don't forget: when Derek gets here--"

"We _know_ , Stiles," Lydia interrupted, her voice holding an edge of irritation. "You've been talking about this for the last _six_ days." 

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "I just wanted to make sure everyone understood their roles in this." 

"We do," Scott said, exchanging glances with Isaac and Allison, who quickly nodded. "No need to explain again." 

Lydia ignored Scott and fixed Stiles with an unimpressed look. "If you mention your plan one more time, I'm going to take that mistletoe and shove it somewhere unpleasant." She took a deep breath. "Now can we please finish with the rest of the decorations?" 

Stiles blinked at her. There was a small plastic Christmas tree in the corner, decorated with three separate sets of Christmas lights and a popcorn garland. Allison and Isaac had put up a string of blinking, multi-colored candy cane lights over the window and he and Scott had set up a jolly Santa Christmas decoration. It lit up said 'Ho Ho Ho' if you tapped it on the head. 

Stiles glanced at Isaac and Scott. 

"But… we were done," Scott said. 

Lydia closed her eyes and sighed.

#

They barely finished the new decorations in time. Stiles had had to fight to keep the candy cane lights, but no one - not even Lydia - thought to challenge him on his horrific mistletoe arrangement.

Scott was perched on Isaac's shoulders, fixing the edge of a paper garland over the front door when Derek came in, his eyes widening in surprise. 

"We decorated a little," Lydia said, giving him a sweet smile. "I hope you don't mind."

"No," Derek said. "It looks nice." 

Lydia shot Stiles a triumphant look. He waited until Derek had turned away to admire the Christmas tree before he stuck his tongue out at her. Lydia rolled her eyes. 

"Is there anything I can do?" 

"Nope," Stiles said. "We're all done. Just sit down and we can start the movie." 

"Okay." Derek nodded and sat down on the couch - Operation Mistletoe was a go. Thank god Derek hadn't sat down in the armchair.

Stiles pumped his fist into the air behind Derek's back, glaring when Isaac started snickering. Stiles slapped the DVD case into Isaac's hands. 

"Here," he said, "why don't you put the movie on?" 

Isaac rolled his eyes, but obediently put the DVD into the player and called up the menu. 

"Hey, _Gremlins_!" Derek said, a small smile spreading over his face. "That's my favorite Christmas movie." 

"Really?" Lydia said dryly, her tone completely lacking any surprise. If Derek noticed anything, he didn't show it. 

Lydia sat down on the other end of the couch, leaving the middle seat for Stiles, as planned. Danny snatched the only armchair and Allison, Scott and Isaac spread out on a blanket on the floor, legs tangled together. 

For the first few minutes of the movie, everyone was quiet. The only sounds came from the TV and from Danny who had a bowl of chips on his lap and was munching on them like they were the first food he'd seen all day. Stiles wouldn't discount it, actually - he had been shopping with Lydia and as far as Stiles knew, Lydia didn't plan for breaks on her shopping trips, especially not food breaks. 

Lydia prodded him in the side and Stiles startled, his hand flying to his side. Did banshees have claws? If not, Lydia had pretty sharp nails. "What?" 

"Move over a little," she said. "I want to put my legs up." 

Stiles beamed at her and then schooled his face into an apologetic smile as he scooted closer to Derek. 

Derek didn't react to their new level of closeness. He stared at the TV in fascination, the corners of his mouth lifting every once in a while in reaction to what was happening in the movie. 

Stiles had no clue where they were in the movie, but feeling Derek's thigh lightly touch his was nice. Definitely a lot nicer than Lydia's toes digging into his other thigh. 

Frowning, Stiles tapped Lydia's feet, trying to get her to point her toes somewhere else. 

Instead of giving him more room, Lydia sighed. "Stiles, honestly. I thought I told you to move over? How much room does a skinny guy like you take up?" 

"Right," Stiles said. He gave Lydia a few more inches to spread out, bringing him into even closer contact with Derek. 

This time, Derek and Stiles exchanged a commiserating smile. Derek because he'd learned over the last couple of years that he didn't want to upset Lydia, Stiles because a gleeful smile might not have been appropriate. 

Stiles could feel his heart hammering in his chest, beating so fast that he was surprised Derek hadn't said anything yet. By the way Scott and Isaac were giggling like little schoolgirls over Allison's head before she shushed them, it had to be really obvious. Stiles went through some relaxation exercises in his mind, trying to calm his heart rate. He took a deep breath - and immediately wished he hadn't. His heartbeat did a little jump when he realized what he could smell was pure Derek. Leather and smoke and detergent, with a little something extra that Stiles couldn't identify with his inferior human sense of smell. It was somewhere at the edge of his awareness, too strong to be his imagination, but too weak to pinpoint without some help from the supernatural smeller fraction.

Derek's smell wasn't the only thing getting Stiles' pulse up. 

This latest move had put Stiles right up against Derek's side. Their thighs were now touching along the full length. Stiles' shoulder was digging into Derek's upper arm and Derek's hand was somewhere between them. Stiles wasn't sure exactly where, but thinking about where it _could_ be only made things worse. Even the tip of Stiles' foot was in contact with Derek. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but Stiles couldn't even think about moving. He was so nervous he could hardly breathe - moving was definitely beyond him. 

Something funny was happening in the movie. Stiles knew that because Derek laughed and his whole body shook against Stiles'. The corners of his eyes crinkled and his cheeks looked so much fuller with his lips pulled into a wide smile. Derek's teeth were really white and his eye tooth was kind of funny-shaped. Pointier than Stiles would have expected in human form. 

"Stiles!" 

Stiles jerked around and gave Lydia a confused look.

"I'm thirsty." 

Stiles frowned. "Good thing that your glass is right in front of you then." 

"Water, Stiles," Lydia said, making a shooing motion towards the kitchenette. "Go and get me some water." 

Stiles raised his eyebrows. 

Lydia sighed. "Please?"

That wasn't really what Stiles had been waiting for, but he'd take it. Derek's kitchenette was almost a full kitchen. The only reason it wasn't called that was because it didn't have any walls. Stiles opened the fridge and took out a bottle of water. No tap water for Lydia Martin - Stiles had learned that the first time he'd brought Lydia something to drink and she'd nearly bitten his head off for bringing her flat tap water. Apparently the added minerals in bottled water were good for the skin.

Stiles' cell phone chirped, showing one new text message from Lydia when he pulled it out of his pocket. 

_Take it down a notch_ , the message read. _Your staring has reached creepy levels. Do you even remember which movie is playing?_

When Stiles looked up, Lydia had one elegant eyebrow raised, giving him a challenging look. 

Stiles took a deep, calming breath - so much more effective without Eau de Derek clogging up his airways - and texted back: _creepy staring is a staple of our awkward friendship. derek doesn't mind._

_Exactly_ , came Lydia's reply. _I thought this was supposed to be something new?_

No matter how many times it happened, Stiles still hated it when Lydia was right. He grabbed the glass of water and a package of pretzels and headed back into the living room. 

Lydia accepted her water with a sweet smile - Stiles could see right through it - and promptly set it down on the table without even taking one sip. When he glanced at Lydia, she shrugged and turned back to the movie. 

Stiles smiled. There was a reason why Lydia Martin was number one on his list of people to watch out for if they ever ended up becoming an evil mastermind. 

Going into the kitchen and focusing on something other than Derek had actually calmed him down enough that he could offer Derek the package of pretzels with steady hands. Derek's delighted grin at the sight of his favorite snack almost undid all the good work the distraction had done, setting loose a whole swarm of butterflies in Stiles' stomach. He squeezed back into the spot between Derek and Lydia and actually turned his face towards the TV this time. 

Derek was still a distraction - he was chewing and moving and _breathing_ \- but at least Stiles could watch the movie and catalogue Derek's pretzel eating habits at the same. 

The movie wasn't even half an hour in yet and Stiles had sweaty palms, a racing heart and his body was caught somewhere between awkward arousal and abject terror. What a great start into a bright new future. 

When the doorbell rang two minutes later, Stiles almost sighed in relief. Derek got up and headed for the door and Stiles put his head in his hands and made a weak, mournful noise. 

"Keep it together, Stilinski," Danny said.

"Nooooo," Stiles moaned. Derek hadn't even looked at him the entire time they'd been squeezed in together on the couch. The plan was a terrible idea. "This was a terrible idea. The plan is canceled." 

"We decorated the entire loft for this," Lydia said. "Because you wanted to have the right _atmosphere_ for your plan."

Danny crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I bought all of the worst snack foods because they're _someone's_ favorite." 

"We're watching _Gremlins_ ," Isaac said. "When we could have been watching _Die Hard_." 

Allison gave him a sympathetic look, but she nodded in agreement with Isaac. 

Scott looked at him with wide eyes and whispered, "You can't back out now! I smelled him for you!"

Stiles couldn't help it - he burst out laughing. Scott tried to hold on to his glare, but the laughter was catching and soon they were all laughing. 

"What's so funny?" Derek asked, dropping a large package onto the coffee table. 

Danny blurted something about smells that set everyone off again. Derek shook his head at them and used one of his claws to open the box he'd brought in. Stiles resolved not to find Derek and the casual display of his wild and strong nature sexy. 

Nope.

Not. Sexy. At. All. 

Stiles bit the inside of his lip and counted to ten before he opened his eyes again. Derek had his hands full of small, brightly wrapped packages. 

"They're presents from Cora," Derek explained, sounding pleased. "She wasn't sure they'd get here in time." 

"Is there one for me?" Stiles asked. 

"There's one for everyone," Derek said, dropping the gifts back into the box. He carried it over to the tree and started arranging the gifts under it. Stiles' gaze was fond - not creepy, no matter what Lydia said - when Derek straightened up again and turned around. It was only because he was already watching Derek that Stiles noticed his smile turned just a little bit wider, his eyes a little bit softer when he looked at Stiles. 

Their eyes met and Stiles' breath caught in his throat. 

With Lydia, everyone in town knew he'd had a crush on her. Everyone who had spent more than fifteen minutes in his company knew that Lydia's hair was strawberry blonde - not red - and that her green eyes sparkled when she laughed and that her brain was probably the most attractive thing about her even if she hid it behind a fashion girl mask. 

With Derek, Stiles had tried to be more subtle. He hadn't told anyone - except Scott, but Scott was his best friend and best friends didn't count - that he thought Derek's eyes were gorgeous and that Stiles wanted to pet his scruffy beard all day long and that his tragic eyebrows just needed to be looked at with a little love. 

Stiles could pull off subtle. He _could_. At least with regular people. But in a room full of werewolves, subtle meant non-existent. And _that_ he couldn't do. 

Stiles gave Derek a weak smile and sat down on the couch again, sitting on his hands so he wouldn't be tempted to do anything stupid, like touch Derek's abs and marvel at their perfection. When Derek sat down, Stiles' heart barely even blipped.

On the other side of the coffee table, Scott turned around and caught Stiles' eye. He made a 'go get it' motion with his head that Stiles could only identify because he'd been friends with Scott forever. For everyone else it probably looked more like Scott had a muscle tic or a seizure. Derek certainly noticed Scott's antics and turned his head around, trying to see what Scott was looking at. 

Stiles mentally face-palmed. That was Scott's contribution to the plan? Scott was supposed to gently steer Derek towards the mistletoe _after_ the movie, not perform the Ballet of Obvious Hints in front of the TV. Scott definitely needed to be put on friendship probation. 

Stiles could see the exact moment Derek spotted the mistletoe. He frowned, tilted his head a little and squinted at it dangling in the doorway. "Hey, what's th--"

"Argh!" 

Derek closed his mouth and snapped his head around, looking at Stiles. 

Danny loudly crunched on his chips, grinning and watching them with interest.

Scott gave him a very unsubtle thumbs up - definitely going on friendship probation - and Isaac snickered into his hand. Allison, at least, had the decency to give him an encouraging smile and be _subtle_ about it. 

Derek's looked turned from confused to alarmed. It might have had something to do with the fact that Stiles' heart felt like it was about to explode, but Stiles breathed through it. He was a Stilinski. Stilinskis didn't back down, didn't give in and they weren't afraid of their emotions. He could totally do this. 

"Stiles?" 

He could definitely not do this. The little furrow between Derek's eyebrows would just get larger and then he'd turn down the corners of his mouth and let Stiles down gently. He'd probably pat Stiles' arm and awkwardly assure him that nothing needed to change between them. 

_Oh god._

The swarm of butterflies in Stiles' stomach turned into a ball of queasy, rolling fear. Someone spoke, but Stiles couldn't hear anything over the rush of blood in his ears. Somehow, despite the fact that admitting his feelings to Derek was part of the plan, Stiles froze up. His throat went dry, his hands started shaking and he couldn't seem to focus his eyes anywhere, least of all Derek's face. Stiles just had to calm down a little, and _then_ he'd tell Derek. 

It was Lydia who gave him the final push. 

Literally. 

She knocked into his back, pushing him towards Derek so that Stiles' only two options were to fall straight into Derek or reach out and catch himself - on Derek. One of Stiles' hands landed on Derek's thigh, strong and firm under his palm. His other hand grabbed Derek's shoulder, squeezing tight enough that it had to be painful. 

Derek didn't flinch. He startled when Stiles suddenly toppled into him, putting out a hand to steady him. Stiles could feel it, warm and gentle against his side. But he didn't flinch back or knock Stiles' hands away. Instead, his hand clenched in the fabric of Stiles' shirt, Derek's knuckles brushing against Stiles' flank. 

Derek's eyes roamed over Stiles' features, flickering down to his lips once or twice. 

_Oh, fuck it._

Stiles took his hand from Derek's thigh and stood up, using his other hand to push himself up. Derek blinked and pulled his own hand back, but Stiles caught it before he could lower it. 

Derek's eyes snapped to his and Stiles smiled. 

"Okay, new plan," he said, not taking his eyes off Derek. "You guys watch the movie. Derek, with me." 

Derek didn't resist when Stiles tugged at his hand, following him to the bathroom willingly, if a little confused. "What are we--"

"Shh," Stiles said. He cast a quick glance over to the others. Scott and Isaac were high-fiving each other - adorable, but Stiles was still going to put Scott on friendship probation. Lydia had her arms crossed, a smug little smile on her lips. Allison had her back turned, already focused on the TV again. Danny was still watching them, making a 'go on' gesture before he grabbed another handful of chips. 

Stiles made a face at him and then turned back to Derek, only to find him watching Stiles with an amused grin on his face. 

"Am I allowed to speak now?" 

"Technically, yes," Stiles said. "Although talking wasn't really part of the plan for today." 

"There was a plan?" Derek raised his eyebrows. "I don't know anything about a plan."

"Because you were the objective of the plan," Stiles said, the 'duh' very much implied. "You don't tell the bank manager you're planning to rob his bank, do you?" 

"You wanted to rob me?" 

"No, I--" Stiles broke off. "You're messing with me." 

Derek's grin widened and he nodded slightly. "What was your plan then?" 

"Just, um…" Stiles looked up, nodding his head at the sad excuse for a real mistletoe gently swinging above their heads.

Derek followed his eyes. 

"Oh." 

For a moment, both of them looked at the mistletoe. When Stiles lowered his head, Derek was still looking up at the mistletoe, a slight frown on his face. No declarations of love. No soulful, deep looks. They weren't even touching. 

Scott was so definitely going on friendship probation. The werewolf super smeller had failed. Maybe Derek did have a thing for candy canes, and not Stiles Stilinskis. Or Scott had lied to him. Or Derek had just been randomly horny that day. Either way, Stiles would have to spend the next few decades of his life avoiding Derek at pack gatherings. _Awesome._

"Riiiiiight," Stiles said slowly, drawing the word out to stall a little. Maybe he could make a dignified retreat into the bathroom? If he turned on the tap, how high were his chances of crying without any werewolves hearing him? "Um, right. So obviously I'm just here today to make a fool of myself. Feel free to ignore me and go back to the movie. I'll just be in here--" he said, pointing at the bathroom "--dying of embarrassment because I don't think I'd succeed in drowning myself in the toilet."

"I didn't say no!" Derek said quickly, giving him an alarmed look. "I just didn't think you were--"

"What? Like you couldn't hear my heart going like a drum?" 

Derek shrugged. "I thought--"

"That I was just really nervous about watching the _Gremlins_?" Stiles said, shaking his head a little. 

Derek shrugged again, a slow smile spreading over his face. "Maybe. It is a pretty scary movie." 

"Says the werewolf to his druid," Stiles said, laughing. 

"His?" Derek asked quietly. 

Stiles nodded, too nervous to speak all of a sudden. 

Derek turned his eyes back to the mistletoe, his eyes full of expectation and excitement this time. When he looked back at Stiles, he raised his eyebrows invitingly.

Stiles felt the corners of his mouth lift up. Before he could chicken out again, Stiles took a step closer to Derek and put a shaking hand on Derek's arm. Derek turned his head away from the mistletoe and looked at Stiles. 

Smiling, Derek cupped his face and leaned in. 

Stiles forgot everything around them. Kissing Derek was way better than anything he'd imagined - and he had imaged it _a lot_. 

Derek's beard was long enough that it didn't scratch Stiles. The hair was soft and slightly tickled his face where it brushed against him. Derek's lips were dry and warm and perfect. Derek's leather-smoke scent was even stronger standing so close to him. Stiles breathed it in, hoping to stay like this forever, with Derek's thumbs gently stroking the skin under his eyes and Derek's lips on his. 

Derek opened his mouth and deepened the kiss, taking a small step forward so their whole bodies were pressed together. Stiles slid his arms around Derek's middle and returned the kiss with equal fervor, running his tongue along Derek's lower lip. Derek's tongue darted out to meet his and Stiles lost himself in the kiss, feeling hot and almost light-headed. 

When Derek pulled back, Stiles took a deep breath and ran his tongue over his lips before opening his eyes. Stiles had dreamed about kissing Derek for the last two years and now he finally had. Operation Mistletoe was officially a success. 

A quick glance at the pack showed that they we're all absorbing the movie with a laser focus. Which probably meant the wolves were listening shamelessly, Lydia was watching via her compact mirror and Danny was simply watching them when their heads were turned. Stiles had always known Allison was the only decent one in the bunch. 

Derek's thumb tapping his cheek brought Stiles' attention back to him. Stiles smiled, fully aware he probably had a goofy look on his face. It didn't matter though. Stiles was still pleasantly fuzzy from their kiss and Derek wasn't holding back either - his smile was at least as goofy as Stiles' own, and his eyes were dancing with joy. 

"Merry Christmas," Stiles said, sounding a little breathless. He felt himself blush a little. Breathless because of one kiss? But then again, it had been one hell of a first kiss. 

"Merry Christmas, Stiles," Derek said quietly. 

He looked so happy that Stiles had to dive in and kiss him again. And again. And again.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays, everyone!


End file.
